Funfetti!

by Jill St. George on Apr 16, 2012

Funfetti Cake Batter Cookies

My inner child seems to come out when I see sprinkles. Even as an adult, I’m still drawn to sprinkle-covered donuts and cupcakes. So when I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I just had to make these cookies. Of course not without my little helper by my side. My three-year-old son, Jax, thought these were pretty much the coolest cookies ever.

Funfetti Ingredients

Ingredients:

1 box vanilla cake mix – 18.25 oz
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup color sprinkles

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl combine cake mix and baking powder. In a small bowl mix eggs, oil and vanilla. Add the egg mixture to the cake mixture and stir to combine. Stir in the sprinkles. Drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes and allow to cool for 5.

Drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet.

Funfetti cookies make me happy!

 Recipe courtesy of Cookin’ Cowgirl.

There’s a won-ton in my soup

by Robin Salts Beckett on Apr 3, 2012

Last week I met with three friends and classmates from high school (shout out to IKE’s Crew of ’92!) to plan our … eek … 20 year reunion in Yakima.  The flip side of having to track down 400 people after 20 years is that we got to eat dinner while doing the research.

We met at Zesta Cucina, where they tucked us into the upstairs, so we could spread out with our spreadsheets and laptops. We are also very loud, but I’m sure that had nothing to do with it. Since my husband had eaten Zesta’s new tomato soup the night before and raved, I ordered that, plus the stuffed mushroom appetizer, plus the sticky toffee banana-date cake for dessert. I thought I deserved all that… you know, for doing all the planning and stuff.

We had a delicious dinner – and it was terrific catching up with old friends, all of whom have traveled and then returned to Yakima to raise their families. Can’t wait for the reunion!

Zesta has amazing decorations - they change up the tree branches seasonally. During winter, they were draped in white netting. Around Valentine's Day, red decorations adorned them, and for the beginning of spring, pink blossoms bloom.

The stuffed mushrooms are a Zesta menu mainstay - for good reason. Spicy and savory, with this lovely balsamic vinegar, which might be a reduction. In the past Zesta has had an eggplant parmesan appetizer on its menu that features the same balsamic ... it's also very tasty.

This soup is incredible. It's Thai coconut tomato and shrimp bisque. That little island of yumminess is a "Thai shrimp purse," the most unexpected accoutrement to a soup. The flavors are amazing - lively, spirited, yet rich and a little sweet.

My friend Gen ordered the Bay Laurel pork chop - a Flintstone sized piece of pork that she raved about. She said she wasn't very hungry but ordered it because it was only $9.99. Only problem is she was looking at the cost of the wine suggestion. Nonetheless, she enjoyed it.

By the time dessert rolled around, the light had dimmed considerably, so we had to snap this photo with the help of the iPhone's "flashlight" feature ... hence the bad photo. This was the sticky toffee banana-date cake and coconut rum malted mango shake. The shake was so rich and creamy and fruity-sweet. The cake was good - would have been better if warm - but still a good vehicle to soak up all that sauce.

Le Peep, roasted

by Robin Salts Beckett on Mar 28, 2012

Le itsy bitsy Peep on le itsy bitsy plate

So Easter is around the corner, and I have to admit with my current obsession with color, I do love the pastel candy and decorations that spring up this time of year. I’m about to get out my sparkly egg topiaries and the blue, pink and purple tea towels that are tucked away with the Christmas decorations in the basement.

One thing I’ve never really enjoyed about Easter is Peeps, though. Those sugary marshmallows are just too … sweet. (That’s right, I said it – TOO sweet.) But a friend of mine, who’s a crazy good cook and domestic maven, came up with this idea for Peep “S’mores.”  Peeps are essentially sugar-covered marshmallows, so when they’re roasted, they get a little caramelized. Kind of like CREME BRULEE.

I had to try.

So last night, after a last-ditch attempt at getting some laundry done, I grabbed a fondue pick, some Peeps, graham crackers and a Hershey bar. All I did was turn on a burner (don’t look too close at my stove, please) and “roast” the Peep for a minute or two (obligatory reminder to be careful here, and don’t let kids do it!). Then I stuck said gooey Peep between two cracker squares with a square of chocolate bar and made a chicken sandwich.

Peep on a stick

Roasting le Peep

My chicken sandwich - yummy.

Happy Spring – enjoy!

Hazelnut Macaroons

by Robin Salts Beckett on Mar 23, 2012

Jill found these amazingly gorgeous Easter macaroons on Pinterest (from the blog Two Peas and Their Pod). They’re adorable. I wanted to make them, but I couldn’t find any Easter candy around my house (hmm…where did it go??).

But I thought hazelnut spread (AKA Nutella, usually) and baked, sweetened coconut sounded, oh, I don’t know, delicious?  So I gave them a go. The combination of chewy coconut and creamy Nutella is really tasty. The perfect treat for a springtime holiday.

Cookin’ with the kiddos

by Jill St. George on Mar 14, 2012

The minute I step into the kitchen, my son is right there by my side. He wants to take part in almost everything I do. And I’ll admit, when I’ve got something important going on, it drives me batty. But for the most part, I try to find things that we can do together.

So when a friend suggested we make Boboli pizzas with the kids, I jumped right on it. The pizza crust has been around for years. In fact, I remember making Boboli pizzas with a friend when I was 12. The crust is just as I remember it, but it also comes in whole wheat and thick or thin crust. Each crust also comes with a package of sauce.

Our boys had a blast putting the kid pizza together. They used pepperoni and ham to make smiley faces, and then piled it high with cheese. On the other hand, we covered the adult pizza with chicken, garlic, basil, green peppers, and also piled it high with cheese. The pizzas turned out great.

Paula’s Banana Bread

by Jill St. George on Mar 12, 2012

Paula Deen's banana bread with walnuts.

Who doesn’t love a good Paula Deen recipe? Her Southern cooking and creamy, buttery dishes have given her celebrity status. However, we recently found out about her Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis – adding some controversy to her cooking. In our recent food edition of Yakima Magazine, we included a story about Deen’s diagnosis, as well the why’s and how’s of dealing with the disease.

But couldn’t we agree that all good things are great in moderation? Which is why I’ll probably hold on to Deen’s banana bread recipe for as long as I live. It’s yummy, moist…and simple! In fact I never throw away old bananas, because it only takes about ten minutes to whip up.

The recipe, from cookingwithpauladeen.com, is for two loaves. I added walnuts to one loaf and chocolate chips to the second loaf. Both are very yummy.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter

4 very ripe bananas

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

1/2 to 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients. Mix butter, banana and egg. Mix dry ingredients into banana mix and add in nuts. Bake 40-45 minutes.